Gluten-Free Blueberry Brownie Bites

The idea for blueberry brownies came to me in the middle of shampooing my hair. I was thinking about a chocolate bar I'd seen the day before (what, you don't think about chocolate in the shower?). It was a slim dark chocolate confection with dried blueberries. I'm a fruit and chocolate combo fan, you see. I love berries and chocolate. Orange and chocolate. Pineapple and chocolate. Actually, is there anything that doesn't taste better with some chocolate on it?

Such are my ponderous meanderings.

I'm still waiting for my Babycakes cookbook to arrive (I pre-ordered it from Amazon) along with pastry bags and icing tips. Ever since my unexpected success developing my first gluten-free and vegan Orange Creme Cupcakes I've been dreaming up cupcake flavors and imagining sweet little gems galore. Although I was less than thrilled to learn that Babycakes bakery uses bean flours (yuck), soy milk powder (um, why?) and spelt (spelt is not gluten-free) in their recipes, I'm still stoked to get the book, hoping it will at least inspire my own gluten-free vegan beauties.

From the Babycakes recipes I've seen on-line, author Erin McKenna uses a similar approach to mine in gluten-free baking- adding agave or honey, for instance, to keep the flours moist (both agave and honey are humectant). Using potato starch for lift and tenderness (those of you allergic to nightshades can substitute tapioca starch). And her tip of using hot water to mix batters is spot on (I love using hot coffee in chocolate batters and hot water in my vegan cornbread).

But the number one reason I'm infatuated with cupcakes at the moment is this- at high altitude, getting a vegan cake to rise properly without turning into one giant muffin, or coaxing a pan of vegan brownies to coalesce, is a sticky, difficult task. Dividing the batter into individual servings- aka cupcakes- solves this problem. The modest dollops of batter thrive and rise like champs.

After learning about Martha Stewart's version of Erin's brownies over at Book of Yum, I began conjuring brownies as cupcakes. Then came the blueberry idea in the shower.

And the rest, as they say, is herstory.

If you aren't a fan of blueberries, leave them out.

Blueberry Brownie Bites - A Gluten-Free Vegan Recipe

I used organic frozen wild blueberries in this chocolate brownie recipe. I thawed them first and patted them dry. In summer, use fresh blueberries.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and g-free flour or line a twelve-cup muffin tin with papers.